Volume 2 - CH 174

The sun had set completely, so I decided to return to the inn anyway.

I set my pace a little faster, wondering what I would do if I couldn’t find those three.

When I returned to the inn, I was struck by a scene I normally see, Uchikage and Alena were sitting at a desk with a table counting their money in the lounge.

“Oh, you guys have returned.”

“Ouren! Welcome back!”

“Apologies for the absence. We found something interesting.”

What is the interesting thing?

I decided to sit down with them and listen to what they had to say.

“What is this interesting thing?”

” You see, you see! We found a dungeon!”

“Du- dungeon?”

Dungeon.

A dungeon was supposed to be a place where you could find treasure and where the monsters got stronger as you progressed.

It is something that is often used in games and such, but I never thought I would hear the word “dungeon” used here.

Apparently, while they were doing a request, they found a crowd of people and asked them about it, and they were told that it was a dungeon.

“So, the request itself went quickly, but I wanted to dive in the dungeon for a bit, so I spent the night at a nearby camp!”

“That’s why you were coming back late?”

“I apologize for worrying you …….”

“I’m sure if Reizen heard about this, he’d definitely go for it.”

Reizen seems to know more about games and such, and is probably more familiar with dungeons and such.

It seemed that both of them had been in a dungeon once.

Since I was interested in dungeons, I decided to ask them about it.

“What kind of place was it?”

“Well, …… it wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, but we only went down two levels, so …… it’s still hard to say.”

“Overall, the enemies were weak. There are a lot of adventurers who go into dungeons, so there were fewer enemies to come in close contact with.”

“Is there any advantage to those dungeons?”

“There are. I heard that if you conquer the dungeon, your rank will go up once, but it will not matter if you do not conquer it before B rank.”

After listening to the story in detail, it seems that the dungeon was managed by the Adventurers’ Guild of the Kingdom of Salettana, and the difficulty of conquering it is designated as B-rank.

If you conquer this dungeon at D- rank, they will promote you to the C rank, skipping D and D+.

Considering our current ability level at this current rank, the difficulty level of the request is so easy that it has turned into a chore.

If that is the case, then we should be able to become C-rank adventurers by having the three of us take the promotion test tomorrow, making us D-rank, and then conquering the dungeon.　

I haven’t completed many requests, but if they can promote us …… then we can do so.

When I told them about the promotion exam, they immediately bit on it and decided to take the exam tomorrow.

Apparently, they also felt that their current request was not enough.

The request this time was also a small one, so they said that it took them only about three hours to finish it.

Alena seems to have taken care of all of them. ……

At least I got approval from two of them.

I still have to get approval from one more person. ……

“Hey. Where’s Reizen?”

“Reizen? I haven’t seen him, but he didn’t return yet ……?”

“Yeah. I haven’t been home since yesterday, just like you guys. I’m sure he’s just lost anyway, but I’d like to find him before tomorrow.”

“Can’t you find him even with Ouren-sama’s detection skills?”

“My skill can’t tell people apart. Unfortunately.”

That guy’s attire is very distinctive, but I can’t look for the quirky thing just by his silhouette.

However, what kind of request did Reizen receive?

I asked them, but they were not with him at that time, so they don’t really know.

I guess we will have to wait for him……

“I’m home!”

…… Speak of the devil.

Just as we were talking about him, a cheerful-looking Reizen opened the door and spoke up without saying anything to anyone.

I was worried about him, and I felt like an idiot for worrying about him, but I suppressed my frustration

“I’m sorry I’m late!”

“Reizen-dono, where have you been?”

“I was completing a request to take down acid dogs, but there were so many …… that I had a hard time.”

“I thought you were lost somewhere.”

“How rude!”

I was impressed by Alena’s willingness to say what she didn’t bother to say.

Anyway, Reizen came back and I decided to tell him about the promotion test that I had just explained to Uchikage and Alena.

He was excited to hear the dungeon is exist, but since this was a promotion exam that had to be completed, we decided to have him concentrate on the promotion exam first.

Although, I think Alena, Uchikage, and Reizen will pass the exam like your usual tuesday …….

No, but I’m worried about Alena.

Alena is still being aided by her skills.

It is a very strong skill, but it would be very dangerous if she could not use it.

I wonder how that guildmaster will perceive that. ……

I think she’s not that good a judge of character,…… but she’s a bit shallow.

Maybe she’s just trying to be quirky or something?

“All right! Let’s go to bed to get ready for tomorrow!”

“I’m hungry.”

“Well, let’s go eat at some random place.”

Just today, the conversation went all the way to the top.

It won’t be long before I’m standing at the reception desk of a high-ranking section.

However, there is a question that comes to my mind when I think of it this way.

I wonder how far I can go.

I feel that I probably have more skills than any of the other guys.

I know how swordsmanship works, and I have the knowledge that comes with it, so there is nothing I can’t do.

Having defeated the S-rank designated Red Boar, I doubt there is any particular enemy they would have a hard time with.

It’s a completely dangerous way of thinking, but since I haven’t actually fought any strong enemies recently, it can’t be helped.

Maybe I should have a mock battle with the guildmaster next time …….

Well, for now, let’s keep an eye on these three’s promotion exams.